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Land of hope and Tory: Don't trust Red Ed and his Blue Peter economy, says David Cameron

David Cameron declared that Britain is on the up today as he appealed for another five-year term to “build something better”.

The Prime Minister said he needed to “finish the job” of mending the public finances but said his ambitions went beyond “just fixing the mess we inherited”.

He mapped out a post-coalition vision of tough and long-term welfare, immigration and economic reform. Strikingly, they included a ban on illegal immigrants renting homes and forcing all under-25s to undergo training for their benefits.

He mocked “Red Ed and his Blue Peter economy” and said Labour would drive the nation into another debt crisis.

On the up? David Cameron delivering his keynote speech in Manchester today
Putting himself on the side of businesses and aspiring home-buyers, he even hijacked Tony Blair’s motto “for the many not the few”. Striking an optimistic tone to his party conference in Manchester he pointed upwards as he listed the improving economic numbers and joked: “The land of despair was Labour. The land of hope is Tory.”

He vowed to stop under-25s from opting for “life on benefits”, saying: “It’s time for bold action here … So this is what we want to see: everyone under 25 earning or learning.”

Promising to crack down on illegal immigrants he said: “If you have no right to be here, you cannot rent a flat or a house. Not off the council, not off anyone else. When you are a foreign prisoner fighting deportation, you should pay your own legal bills.”

But the heart of Mr Cameron’s keynote speech was an impassioned argument that Ed Miliband’s Labour could not be trusted with the economy because the debt crisis was not yet solved and the Tories had more to offer. “Is it enough that we just clear up Labour’s mess and think ‘job done?’ ” he asked. “Is it enough to just fix what went wrong? I say — no. Not for me. This isn’t job done; it is job begun.”

Party faithful: delegates at the Tory conference listen to the PM's speech
He admitted that paying down the deficit was “a real struggle” for families and firms. “The struggle will only be worth it if we as a country finish the job we’ve started. If anyone thinks that’s over, done, dealt with — they’re living in a fantasy land. We are still spending more than we earn.” He tore into Mr Miliband’s speech to the Labour conference, saying: “I know that bashing business might play to a Labour audience. But it’s crazy for our country.”

Attacking Labour’s promise to freeze energy bills, he said: “It’s all sticking plasters and quick fixes … cobbled together for the TV cameras. Red Ed and his Blue Peter economy.” Recalling the “flatlining” gesture that shadow chancellor Ed Balls used to make in Prime Minister’s Questions, the PM joked: “Well, I’ve got a gesture of my own for Ed Balls — and don’t worry, it’s not a rude one.”. He then pointed triumphantly upwards as he listed better economic growth, retail sales, manufacturing, investment and employment. Turning to policies, he pledged tougher action to control immigration, including stopping illegal immigrants from being able to rent a home. “When the Immigration Bill comes before Parliament, we will make sure some simple and fair things, that should have always been the case, are now set in stone,” he said.

Support: Samantha Cameron watches her husband's keynote speech
“If you are not entitled to our free National Health Service, you should pay for it. If you have no right to be here, you cannot rent a flat or a house. Not off the council, not off anyone else.” Foreign prisoners fighting deportation should pay their legal bills, he added. If they wanted to appeal that should happen after they had left Britain’s shores.

He also signalled fresh moves to get young people into work including “bold action” to help over a million young people not in education, employment, or training.

“Today it is still possible to leave school, sign on, find a flat, start claiming housing benefit and opt for a life on benefits,” he said. “We should ask, as we write our next manifesto, if that option should really exist at all. “

He proposed that young people should instead be given a “clear, positive choice”. “Go to school. Go to college. Do an apprenticeship. Get a job,” he added. “But just choose the dole? We’ve got to offer them something better than that.

“We want to see everyone under 25 earning or learning.” He sought to pre-empt attacks against his blueprint to stop young people having to rely on benefits, denying it was “callous”. “Remember: we are giving people real opportunities,” he added. On education he said his policies were critical for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Education Secretary Michael Gove won praise for his “belief in excellence” and energy and was likened him to “a cross between Mr Chips and the Duracell bunny”.

Man with a mission: David Cameron and his wife Samantha walk to the conference hall ahead of the PM's big speech
The Tory Leader went on to say how the last three years had seen more students doing “proper”

science and foreign languages. He also claimed the Government had stopped prevented “dumbing down” in exams.

He said his ministers would focus on delivering more apprenticeships and ensuring high reading and writing standards.

Speaking directly to British children he said: “If you fail English and maths GCSE, you’re going to have to take and re-take them again until you pass.”

Mr Cameron also defended free schools which he said Labour officially opposed, while the party’s MPs quietly backed them in their own constituencies. He zoned in on shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg whom he claimed had supported a free school in his city. Mr Cameron said: “Isn’t that always the way with the Left? They don’t like privilege, unless of course it’s for their own children.”

Turning to foreign affairs, Mr Cameron took aim at the Russian official who allegedly said Britain was a small island no one pays attention to.

He railed about how Britain had set global standards in everything from democracy, to music, to university education and football.

He added: “I haven’t even got on to the fact that this small island beat Russia in the Olympics last year.”

More seriously, he said the UK should not withdraw in the wake of Parliament’s vote on Syria.

He said the role Britain played in the world, including having the fourth largest defence budget, protected the country’s national interests. Mr Cameron reserved special mention for the “sacrifice beyond measure” of troops in Afghanistan. On the vote on Scottish independence he said: “We want to stick together.

“Think of all we’ve achieved together, the things we can do together. The nations, as one. Our kingdom, united.” He said profit and enterprise were “not dirty words”. His speech ended a conference dominated by the slogan “For Hardworking Families” which has seen Tories unveil plans designed to help households cope with the rising cost of living.